Crossing the equator
Aboard ship there is little opportunity for nudity outside the sleeping quarters, but it exists. When we crossed the equator we all got our shellback card. By the end of the end of the event our clothes were covered in old food and mostly ripped up as we cut them for the day. They turned the fire hose on us as most of us stripped and threw our T-shirt and jeans overboard. Great walk nude back to the showers throughout the entire ship. Lots of naked brothers that day.
I became a shellback last year. I had Chiefs and Senior Chiefs tell me the same type of stories. Too bad none of the stuff happens now since the Navy is coed. It's frowned upon to even walk around the berthing naked now. You have to have at least shorts on.
I remember gang showers under the fire hoses during water rationing when I was on a destroyer. Saltwater for soaping up then a quick fresh water rinse. We had 20 to 30 naked guys crammed into a small head but no one thought anything of it. Not so today when guys don't even get naked in the shower at the gym.
I became a shellback last year. I had Chiefs and Senior Chiefs tell me the same type of stories. Too bad none of the stuff happens now since the Navy is coed. It's frowned upon to even walk around the berthing naked now. You have to have at least shorts on.
Things changed when we arrived back from west pac that year. I am all for the coed navy but it did change a lot of the brotherhood aspects. We used to strip down in the engine room and use the emergency showers there. Not to mention most of us were shirtless with our coveralls tied around our waist. Lots of suntanning going on the upper decks except during flight quarters.
I became a Shellback in 1984 after a long 111 days on Gonzo Station in the North Arabian sea. I was stationed on the USS Midway CV-41, headed to Perth, Australia, and remember being pretty much dragged out of my rack around 1am with the other WOGS in my department.
After hours and hours of crawling through garbage from the mess decks in tubes, and crawling backward on our hands and knees getting
whipped by wet fire hose (and if you cheated and ran, you had to do that gauntlet all over again, it hurt) we all were so filthy, hundreds of us
stripped naked, piled all our clothing on the end of the air plane hangers and were hosed down, some used the rigged overhead shower on deck, I saw enlisted and commissioned naked, all of us went through the ordeal. Crazy times.
I became a Shellback in 1984 after a long 111 days on Gonzo Station in the North Arabian sea. I was stationed on the USS Midway CV-41, headed to Perth, Australia, and remember being pretty much dragged out of my rack around 1am with the other WOGS in my department.After hours and hours of crawling through garbage from the mess decks in tubes, and crawling backward on our hands and knees gettingwhipped by wet fire hose (and if you cheated and ran, you had to do that gauntlet all over again, it hurt) we all were so filthy, hundreds of usstripped naked, piled all our clothing on the end of the air plane hangers and were hosed down, some used the rigged overhead shower on deck, I saw enlisted and commissioned naked, all of us went through the ordeal. Crazy times.
It was amazing. I am so glad I got to experience it too.
That sounds great! Unfortunately, my ship did not cross the equator while I was on. But I was in before women were on ships as much as they are now and many of the guys hung out naked in their berthing spaces or even sunbathing on deck when we could.
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